These are the dimensions of the altar by cubits: This is a minor heading showing that Ezekiel is about to talk about “the measurements of the altar” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation). For altar see the comments on 6.4 and 8.16.

By cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): Even though all the measurements in the previous three chapters have been in cubits, Ezekiel repeats the information he gave in 40.5 (see the comments there). If translators want to retain cubit, they may render the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth as “When I speak of a cubit, I mean here a normal cubit plus a handwidth.” But for translators who do not use cubits but convert all measurements into metric or imperial figures, this phrase is not appropriate, and translations have handled it in different ways; for example, Good News Translation has “using the same unit of measure as in measuring the Temple,” Contemporary English Version says “According to the official standards,” New International Reader’s Version uses “The standard measurement I am using is 21 inches,” New Century Version translates “using the measuring stick,” and in a footnote New Living Translation (1996) says “In this chapter, the distance measures are calculated using the Hebrew long cubit, which equals 21 inches or 53 centimeters.” Of these renderings, Good News Translation is the best, but it would also be acceptable to omit this phrase entirely (so Buk Bibel).

Its base shall be one cubit high, and one cubit broad: Instead of base, the Hebrew text has “gutter” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation), or “trench” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The altar’s gutter was one cubit high, and one cubit broad, that is, 50 centimeters (20 inches) deep and wide. This gutter was dug into the ground around the base of the altar, presumably to catch the blood from the animals that were being killed for the sacrifices.

With a rim of one span around its edge: The gutter had a rim … around its edge, presumably on the outside to stop the blood from overflowing (compare Good News Translation “a rim at the outside edge” and Contemporary English Version “a … ledge on the outer rim”). This rim was one span, or half a cubit, that is, 25 centimeters (10 inches). This measurement probably refers to how high the rim was, even though Ezekiel does not say so. He does not say how wide it was.

And this shall be the height of the altar: Revised Standard Version and most other translations follow the Septuagint here, which is probably correct. This reading does not involve changing the Hebrew letters, except to change a word break by reading one letter with the previous word instead of the next word. So this clause just involves a change of focus from the bottom of the altar to how high it was. A possible model for this reading is “Now, with respect to the height of the altar.” Another reading, which is not reflected in the translations, makes no change to the Hebrew and simply concludes the description of the bottom of the altar: “This was the base of the altar” (compare New American Standard Bible “and this shall be the height of the base of the altar,” even though this rendering tries to have it both ways). The Hebrew word for “base” usually refers to a curved surface like a hump or a “bulge” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote), often referring to the curved back of an animal or person. Here it refers to the hump of soil that made up the bottom of the altar. We recommend the reading in Revised Standard Version.

See verse 17 for models of verses 13-17.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

They shall have linen turbans upon their heads: Turbans were ornamental headdresses worn by priests and others at times of great joy (see Exo 28.4). To wear them people would wind them around their heads (see 21.26). If turbans are not known by readers, translators may render this clause as “The cloth/clothing they wrap/wear on their heads [or, What they wear on their heads] must be made of linen.”

And linen breeches upon their loins: Breeches refers to “undergarments” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version), “underclothes” (New Century Version), “underwear” (Contemporary English Version), not “trousers” (Good News Translation, New King James Version ), which gives the impression of outer clothing instead of underwear. As in Exo 28.42, these breeches were meant to avoid the priests’ genitals being exposed as they climbed stairs or if the wind blew their robes, so they probably had two enclosed legs to make sure that the genitals were covered in all circumstances. In modern English “shorts” or “underpants” is the usual term for this item of clothing. These “underpants” had to be upon their loins, that is, over their hips from the waist down. Translators may say “the shorts they wear to cover themselves from the waist down must also be made of linen.” Both the hats and the underpants had to be made of linen.

They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat: Strictly speaking, the Hebrew expression for gird themselves with anything refers to putting a belt around the waist (compare Good News Translation “belt”), or to tucking a long flowing robe into one’s belt to make it easier to move around, but here most of the translations take it more generally to mean “wear anything” (New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Complete Jewish Bible). Sweat is the moisture that oozes from a person’s skin on a hot day, or when they are physically active. If someone wears a belt, or anything that holds one’s clothes close to the body, the person is more likely to sweat in those places where the clothes are touching the skin. Apparently, if the priests in the new Temple sweated, they would become ritually unclean. That is why they had to wear clothes made of linen, which is a cool material that does not cause people to sweat. A model for this clause is “[They should do this because] they must not wear anything that will make them sweat.” Good News Translation reorders the verse to make this aspect of avoiding sweating the main focus of the verse, beginning with “So that they won’t perspire….” This is acceptable. “Perspire” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version) is a more polite English word for sweat.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

And he shall provide as a cereal offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah: In addition to the animals, the king must give a certain amount of grain and olive oil along with each animal. These are a cereal offering (see verse 15), but God does not specify what sort of grain the king had to give. It may have been wheat or barley, or possibly flour (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote). The amount he had to give was one ephah with each bull and one ephah with each ram (see the comments on verses 10-12 concerning how much an ephah was). The king must also give one hin of oil to each ephah. A hin was a liquid measure. It was one sixth of an ephah, so it was about 3.75 liters (1 gallon). The oil was “olive oil” (Good News Translation; see verse 14). The purpose of this oil may have been to mix with the flour so that it could be cooked into bread or cakes. Each day of the Passover Festival the king had to give 14 ephahs of grain or flour, and 14 hins of olive oil.

As discussed in the comments on verses 10-12, the ancient weights and measures are not meaningful to modern audiences. Unless appropriate equivalents are available in the language, it is probably better for translators to use general terms, for example, “bag” of grain or flour instead of ephah, and “jug” or “bottle” of olive oil instead of hin. The choice of what terms to use will depend on the size of containers; for example, it would not be good to use a term for a “bag” if the readers will think of a very large bag. The term used must give the readers a generally accurate idea of the size of an ephah and a hin, even though it does not need to be precisely accurate. A model of this verse that uses generic terms is:

• He must also give one container of grain for each bull and each goat as an offering, and also one container of olive oil for each.

If necessary, footnotes giving the exact sizes of these terms (as closely as they can be ascertained) may be included.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Thus says the Lord GOD: Once again this prophetic formula calls attention to the importance of a message from God. Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew).

These are the boundaries is better rendered “This will be the territory” (New Jerusalem Bible), because the Hebrew noun for boundaries (so also the Septuagint) is singular and it can also refer to the territory within a boundary. The Hebrew for this clause is literally “the valley of the boundary.” This reading makes little sense, so scholars assume there is a spelling mistake in the Hebrew text. The correct spelling is found at the beginning of verse 15, where the meaning is clearly “This is the boundary [or, boundaries].”

By which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel: The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, referring to the people of Israel or to their leaders. The land for inheritance refers to the land that they can divide up as their family possession. For this understanding of inheritance, see the comments on 46.16. They are to divide the land, not among individual families, but among the twelve tribes of Israel (see the comments on 37.19). In some languages it may be necessary to say that God will “give back” the land to the Israelites, or that they will “get back” the land, because the land belonged to them in the past.

A model for the first sentence of God’s words in this verse is:

• “This [or, What I will tell you now] will be the territory [or, land] that you will divide up among the twelve tribes of Israel [and give back to them] as their own tribal land.

Joseph shall have two portions: Although Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites, had twelve sons from whom the nation of Israel descended, one of his sons, Levi, was the ancestor of the priests and other Levites and his tribe did not receive land in the way the other tribes did. However, Jacob’s son, Joseph, had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and each of these men became the ancestor of a separate tribe. In this way the number of Israelite tribes remained at twelve. The phrase two portions reminds the reader that Joseph’s family line divided into two tribes, so that his line made up two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Models for this clause are “You must count Joseph’s clan as two clans, and each must have a share of land” and “But the family of Joseph will have two shares [of land]” (New International Reader’s Version).

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .